Bay Guardian Archives

What “Google bus” really means

Michael Redmond
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79

EDITORIAL In recent years, “Google bus” has become a term that encompasses more than just the shuttles that one corporation uses to transport its workers from San Francisco down to the Silicon Valley. It has taken on a symbolic meaning representing the technology sector’s desire to shield itself from the infrastructure, values, and responsibilities that most citizens choose to share.

These are the very things that motivate many of us to live here, finding that community spirit in such a beautiful, world-class city. More than just the great restaurants and bars, its vistas and artistic offerings, San Francisco represents an experiment in modern urbanism and cultural development.

It is this collision and collusion of disparate yet public-spirited cultures that gave birth to the region’s great economic and social movements, from gay rights and environmentalism to groundbreaking academic research and the creation of the Internet economy.

The antithesis of this idea of creative collaboration is to consider San Francisco just 49 square miles of valuable real estate, to be used and developed as the highest bidder sees fit, as some tech titans seem to believe. It’s ironic that an industry based on creating online communities would place so little value on engaging with its physical community.

The proposed $1 per bus stop use, and $50 per docking that new exclusive Google ferry is paying, is a privatization of public space that barely covers the city’s costs. The tech industry should be doing much more just to counteract its negative impacts on the city’s economy, let alone actually being good corporate citizens of this region.

A new report called for by the Mayor’s Office says Muni needs a $10 billion investment over the next 15 years just to maintain current service levels. A big chunk of that should come from the wealthy corporations in our community through a downtown transit assessment district and higher fees on Silicon Valley companies that are using us as a bedroom community.

San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit has been developing a critique of the Google bus since her initial shot last February in the London Review of Books, answering a subsequent techie/enviro criticism published in Grist with a Jan. 7 article in Guernica called “Resisting Monoculture.”

“And thus come the well-paid engineers to San Francisco, and thus go the longtime activists, idealists, artists, teachers, plumbers, all the less-well-paid people,” she writes, citing surveys that the buses allow Silicon Valley workers to live in San Francisco when they otherwise wouldn’t.

That’s the issue. The only thing green about Google buses are the piles of money their riders and their bosses are keeping from the city we all share. Segregated buses have never been a good idea, but if these companies insist on them, that should come with a higher price tag.

 

Alerts: January 15 – 21, 2014

Michael Redmond
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WEDNESDAY 15

“Economic Crisis and System Decline: What We Can Do” First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing, Berk. Kpfa.org/events. 7:30pm, $12 advance, $15 door. KPFA Radio presents an evening with Richard Wolff, hosted by Mitch Jeserich. Wolff, a radical economist, recently published Capitalism Hits the Fan, offering an alarming analysis on global economic events that differs sharply from explanations offered by politicians, media commentators, and other academics. Professor of Economics Emeritus from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Wolff is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University in New York. According to KPFA, he’s got a reputation for “blunt speaking, clarity, refreshing scorn, and an enjoyable wit.”

 

FRIDAY 17

 

Gather round the fire for eviction ghost stories Silver Stone Cafe, 3278 24th St, SF. 6-9pm, free. Join Erin McElroy, of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, and Adriana Camarena, of the Shaping San Francisco “Unsettlers: Migrants, Homies, and Mammas” project, for an evening of community stories about eviction and other housing horrors. Gather around a campfire to listen to and support San Francisco evictees in a family-friendly event. (No alcohol, yes s’mores.) Storytelling will be videotaped.

SATURDAY 18

Richmond/Haight Tenants Convention San Francisco Public Library Park Branch, 1833 Page, SF. 1-4pm, free. This gathering of tenants from District 1 and District 5 is being held to hash out strategies for fighting the evictions in our neighborhoods, educate tenants about their rights, and defend evictees. Participants will also make suggestions for a ballot initiative next November, which will be presented to a citywide tenants convention Feb. 8. Other neighborhoods, including the Mission, Chinatown and Tenderloin/SOMA are also holding or have held conventions and will be making recommendations to the citywide convention. Free and open to tenants. Sponsored by the San Francisco Tenants Union.

SUNDAY 19 Homeless Youth Alliance benefit El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. 3-8pm, $3-to-infinity sliding scale donation. Evicted from their building on Christmas Day, the Homeless Youth Alliance continues to provide services out of the back of a van. The organization’s mission is to help these marginalized youth build healthier lives through harm reduction, one-on-one counseling, and medical and mental health care, as well as creative and educational workshops, needle exchange, and accurate up-to-date referrals and information. This El Rio birthday bash for a generous HYA supporter will feature performances by Kat Marie Yoas, The Whoa Nellies and No Bone.

Solomon: Why the Washington Post’s new ties to the CIA are so ominous

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American journalism has entered highly dangerous terrain.

A tip-off is that the Washington Post refuses to face up to a conflict of interest involving Jeff Bezos — who’s now the sole owner of the powerful newspaper at the same time he remains Amazon’s CEO and main stakeholder.

The Post is supposed to expose CIA secrets. But Amazon is under contract to keep them. Amazon has a new $600 million “cloud” computing deal with the CIA.

The situation is unprecedented. But in an email exchange early this month, Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron told me that the newspaper doesn’t need to routinely inform readers of the CIA-Amazon-Bezos ties when reporting on the CIA. He wrote that such in-story acknowledgment would be “far outside the norm of disclosures about potential conflicts of interest at media organizations.”

But there isn’t anything normal about the new situation. As I wrote to Baron, “few journalists could have anticipated ownership of the paper by a multibillionaire whose outside company would be so closely tied to the CIA.”<–break->

The Washington Post’s refusal to provide readers with minimal disclosure in coverage of the CIA is important on its own. But it’s also a marker for an ominous pattern — combining denial with accommodation to raw financial and governmental power — a synergy of media leverage, corporate digital muscle and secretive agencies implementing policies of mass surveillance, covert action and ongoing warfare.

Digital prowess at collecting global data and keeping secrets is crucial to the missions of Amazon and the CIA. The two institutions have only begun to explore how to work together more effectively.

For the CIA, the emerging newspaper role of Mr. Amazon is value added to any working relationship with him. The CIA’s zeal to increase its leverage over major American media outlets is longstanding.  

After creation of the CIA in 1947, it enjoyed direct collaboration with many U.S. news organizations. But the agency faced a major challenge in October 1977, when — soon after leaving the Washington Post — famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein provided an extensive expose in Rolling Stone.

Citing CIA documents, Bernstein wrote that during the previous 25 years “more than 400 American journalists … have secretly carried out assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency.” He added: “The history of the CIA’s involvement with the American press continues to be shrouded by an official policy of obfuscation and deception.”

Bernstein’s story tarnished the reputations of many journalists and media institutions, including the Washington Post and New York Times. While the CIA’s mission was widely assumed to involve “obfuscation and deception,” the mission of the nation’s finest newspapers was ostensibly the opposite.

During the last few decades, as far as we know, the extent of extreme media cohabitation with the CIA has declined sharply. At the same time, as the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq attests, many prominent U.S. journalists and media outlets have continued to regurgitate, for public consumption, what’s fed to them by the CIA and other official “national security” sources.

The recent purchase of the Washington Post by Jeff Bezos has poured some high-finance concrete for a new structural bridge between the media industry and the surveillance/warfare state. The development puts the CIA in closer institutionalized proximity to the Post, arguably the most important political media outlet in the United States.

At this point, about 30,000 people have signed a petition (launched by RootsAction.org) with a minimal request: “The Washington Post’s coverage of the CIA should include full disclosure that the sole owner of the Post is also the main owner of Amazon — and Amazon is now gaining huge profits directly from the CIA.” On behalf of the petition’s signers, I’m scheduled to deliver it to the Washington Post headquarters on January 15. The petition is an opening salvo in a long-term battle.

By its own account, Amazon — which has yielded Jeff Bezos personal wealth of around $25 billion so far — is eager to widen its services to the CIA beyond the initial $600 million deal. “We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA,” a statement from Amazon said two months ago. As Bezos continues to gain even more wealth from Amazon, how likely is that goal to affect his newspaper’s coverage of the CIA?

________________________________________

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” Information about the documentary based on the book is at www.WarMadeEasyTheMovie.org. 

(The Bruce blog is written and edited by Bruce B. Brugmann, editor at large of the Bay Guardian.  Bruce is the former editor and co-publisher of the Bay Guardian with his wife Jean from 1966-2013.) 

SFUSD students may get new police protections

Erica Hanna
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SFUSD students may get new police protections

Students who run afoul of the police may gain new protections under an agreement between the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Unified School District up for vote at tomorrow’s Board of Education meeting. 

The new agreement explicitly calls for parents to be notified when their children are taken into the custody of police, or are questioned as a victim or a witness. The agreement also introduces graduated steps that increase the burden on school administrators and the police to exhaust all other options before arresting a student.

“What we’re outlining in this policy is that the school system has the first responsibility to ensure discipline and safety, but we don’t want to overreact or push students toward the criminal justice system unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Board of Education Commissioner Matt Haney told the Guardian.

Under the current rules, police officers have been known to discipline kindergartners in San Francisco public schools at the behest of school administrators.

The Guardian touched on this issue briefly in our coverage of suspension reform (“Suspending Judgement,” Vol. 48, Issue 10, Dec. 4): 

“He was five years old, and as kindergartners sometimes do, he threw a temper tantrum. In the school’s desperation to contain him, officials called the SFPD.

‘The police only came one time,’ Desamuel, now seven, told the Guardian. Sitting in his San Francisco home with his uncle Lionel, Desamuel sounded ashamed. ‘But I didn’t go to jail because they only put kids in jail for being bad, like kids taking guns to school.’

(Desamuel’s uncle and guardian) Lionel struggled with the school’s administration, and asked them to try less punitive ways of handling his nephew. ‘I told them to just hug the boy. Their response was ‘it’s hard to hug someone swinging at you.’”

But it wasn’t just that the police were called in to handle his five year old nephew that set off Desamuel’s uncle and guardian, Lionel Hill. It was that they were brought in without his knowledge. 

If the new agreement passes a vote by the board, parents and guardians will be in the disciplinary process with police from the beginning. The disciplinary process itself may change too.

Before the police can bring students into the juvenile justice system, the new rules would allow them a series of graduated offenses. A first offense would bring an official warning notice, a second offense allows the officer to recommend the student into a diversion program, and only on the third offense can an officer bring that student to juvenile probation. 

Since 2009, over 50 students aged 12 or younger have been arrested at school, according to SFPD data compiled by Huckleberry Youth Services. 

United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelley praised the potential for better communication among all involved. “You don’t want things going on with kids that are isolated from the parents,” he told us. “I think having coordination between the board, parents, and police is a positive step.” 

Coleman Advocates, an education and social justice group in San Francisco, was a driving force behind the new changes. 

“We’re putting the responsibility for student behavior back where it belongs, with educators, students, and parents, not with police,” said Karn Saetang, director of Student Organizing at Coleman Advocates. “When police get involved in school discipline, it sends all the wrong messages to students and makes it more likely they will fall behind, fail to graduate, or get involved in the juvenile justice system.” 

These changes come on the heels of new disciplinary reforms tasking the SFUSD with implementing new “restorative practice” interventions in lieu of suspensions, ending zero tolerance discipline that is falling out of favor nationally, according to a recent editorial by the New York Times. 

It looks like better days are ahead for students in the SFUSD. 

Article overlooks key findings and new academic research

Sasha Cuttler
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Article overlooks key findings and new academic research

By Corey Cook

I am writing in regard to Reed Nelson’s story “’Poll’ showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed.” As one of the two authors of the survey, I am deeply disappointed in the many insinuations in the article and the author’s cavalier abandonment of evidence or reason in order to make his politically expedient, but otherwise inane, point.

In fact, the author is so quick to dismiss the findings of the study, which is based upon accepted methodology, and which had nothing to do with mayoral approval scores, that he actually misses the entire thrust of the study – that voters in San Francisco are deeply ambivalent about the current environment, concerned about the affordability crisis, and not trusting of local government to come up with a solution.

You’d think the Bay Guardian might find that an interesting subject. Under a previous editor I have little doubt it would have. Instead, the author mind numbingly asserts that the mayor’s approval rate – a largely irrelevant number – is clearly overinflated and the survey must then be “bogus” (meaning fake or phony). While other scholars might find the popular characterization of their work as “fake” somewhat amusing. I do not.

The author relies on two main sources to claim that an on-line panel survey is “bogus”, the New York Times “style guide” and the “website publication” of Southeast Missouri State University Political Scientist Russell D. Renka, who is neither a survey researcher nor a political methodologist, and who does not seem to have published anything in this field (or even in political science based on his on-line vita), but who does seem to have a fairly robust home page that includes cute photos of his grandkids.

It’s not the kind of “source” that I would utilize to deride another academic’s work as “bogus”, and I could suggest some other (actual) publications to consider, including Harvard political scientist Stephen Ansolabehere’s peer reviewed article in Political Analysis titled “Does Survey Mode Still Matter?” from 2011 that compares national surveys fielded at the same time over the Internet (using an opt-in Internet panel), by telephone with live interviews (using a national RDD sample of landlines and cell phones), and by mail (using a national sample of residential addresses).

The authors of that study conclude that “comparing the findings from the modes to each other and the validated benchmarks, we demonstrate that a carefully executed opt-in Internet panel produces estimates that are as accurate as a telephone survey and that the two modes differ little in their estimates of other political indicators and their correlates.” But unfortunately that peer reviewed publication by a Harvard political scientist seems to contradict the simple assertion that a survey result the author doesn’t like must be phony.

Let me say that I don’t considered this issue “settled” in the scholarly community, but it is far from the case that serious on-line panel surveys ought to be derided as “bogus.” My preference would be to do a 1,200 person phone survey. If the Bay Guardian would like to commission such a survey, I would enjoy working with you on that project. But given the various cost limitations that preclude such a robust research design, this is not an altogether bad alternative.

That said, feel free to poke at the methodology and suggest that the numbers for Lee might not reflect that of the overall population because of the timing of the survey or because it was only conducted in English (though I’d disagree with you there – that likely holds down his numbers), or frankly just that surveys do often get it wrong. Even the best random sample is outside the margin of error one time out of 20 according to basic probability theory.

But the other thing I’d like to draw your attention to is that you’ve missed the entire point of the survey. Why do you focus on mayoral approval when it’s a survey about attitudes towards affordability and tech? In fact the article notes that “(i)nterestingly, the USF “poll” also found that 86 percent of respondants (sic) said that lack of affordability was a major issue in the city, while 49.6 percent of that same group considered housing developers to be most at fault for the astronomical real estate prices.” So apparently that part of the survey wasn’t bogus.

Here were our four findings:

* San Franciscans are of two minds: a clear majority of respondents say the city is going in the right direction, yet affordability is seen as a significant, and newly exacerbated problem.

* Most respondents see the tech boom as most strongly helping tech executives and workers. Though there is little sense that respondents and their families benefit from the tech boom, a clear majority say that tech is also good for other white collar workers and the city overall.

* The public strongly supports the idea that the city government ought to enact policies to preserve affordability but were skeptical of public officials’ ability to deal with these issues.

* Despite these concerns, there was little interest in making it harder for tech companies to come to San Francisco. For now, keeping the economy strong appears to be the priority, and we expect that feelings about the economy will likely stave off a substantial political “backlash” at least at the present time.

While Ed Lee has high approval scores, they are tepid – much more “good” than “excellent”. And those numbers erode on affordability, what the voters regard as the city’s most important issue. And we found that people don’t articulate a high degree of trust in mayor in dealing with affordability. Yes, they trust him more than they do others (like developers, or the Board of Supervisors), but not much. This survey help me understand what happened on the 8 Washington vote. Voters like the mayor, as they do Newsom incidentally, but don’t buy their argument that the development would address housing affordability. His popularity didn’t have coattails on this issue.

It strikes me as a real missed opportunity for your journalists to trash the poll, based on really flimsy grounds, rather than address it’s important, and yes, ambivalent findings.

Sincerely,

 

Corey Cook, Ph.D.

Gimme 5: Must-see shows this week

Steven T. Jones
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Gimme 5: Must-see shows this week

Happy Monday, kids! If you’re feeling the comedown from a solid week of shows celebrating the Rickshaw Stop’s 10th anniversary (read our feature on it here), quit yer whining. Here are a handful of rad upcoming shows to get you out of the house. It’s winter, you’re pale, you need to. 

Tues/14
Black Cobra Vipers

Black Cobra Vipers are an SF-based art-rock trio in which two of three members were jazz majors (bassist Julian Borrego and drummer Rob Mills), a fact which announces itself both through the band’s technical abilities, and through its (mostly) controlled chaos. There are slowed-down funk numbers here; there are nods to ’70s psyche masters; there’s hard-driving, danceable rock and roll, with singer/guitarist Gregory DeMartino’s howls at the helm. Weird enough to keep you guessing, but just poppy enough to get their riffs stuck in  your head, the guys are a quarter of the way through a monthlong residency at the Chapel, so you have three more chances to become a fan.
With French Cassettes, The Netherfriends
The Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
www.thechapelsf.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZTGhgtaW2U

Wed/15

Connan Mockasin
Listening to Connan Mockasin’s “Forever Dolphin Love” (in particular the post-climax/comedown attuned “Rework” by Erol Alkan) for the first time gave me a strange sense of primed nostalgia: it wasn’t that I’d heard the song a hundred times in the past, but the instant recognition that I would be listening to it for the inevitable future. A couple of years later I certainly have, along with the album it came off of and Mockasin’s latest platter of psych pop, Caramel, a Moebius strip of a concept album (based around the concept of what an album entitled “Caramel” would sound like.) But the New Zealand weirdo musician/Ariel Pink doppelganger is only now popping up on a US tour, seemingly having been on an extended European engagement supporting Charlotte Gainsbourg following his underrated guitar work on her Stage Whisper album.   (Ryan Prendiville)
With Disappearing People, Faux Canada
9pm, $10-12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St, SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

Thurs/16

Parquet Courts
Though the band may reside in NYC, the lyric “there’s billionaire buses on my unlit street” should hit close enough to home (if not right on the nose) to remind that Brooklyn isn’t that far away. Full of riffs both frenetically punk and spaciously melodic, Parquet Courts’s Light Up Gold is one of last year’s best. A deceptively effortless mix of slacked out rock songs, it’s a witty blend, with thankfully enough cleverness to know when to be dumb (while doing the inevitable references to Messrs. Reed, Richman, and Malkmus justice.) “Stoned and Starving” has got all the necessary hooks to deliver on a subject that needs no further explanation, but it’s “N. Dakota,” a probably unnecessary but totally enjoyable state-wide diss (with lines like “in Manitoba they call it boring / at night we hum to Canada snoring”) that’s still on replay. (Ryan Prendiville)
With White Fence (co-headliner), CCR Headcleaner
8pm, $16
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
www.slimspresents.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWAdh4YIpd8

Fri/17
Bad News
Replicant Presents’ electronic and experimental noise reaches into Oakland again with a dose of “weird core,” industrial and straight-up sounds out of a horror-film soundtrack. BR-OOKS will have the home-court advantage and push the boundaries of any genre, then the more palpable Names will bring a dancier, more rhythmic approach, while maintaining roots in the realm of noise. But the true industrial strength will be heard when Bad News takes over. This commanding SF/LA guitar and synth duo, comprised of Sarah Bernat and Alex Lukas, should whip you into shape with sounds of precision and perfection. But before they totally slay you, you’ll reflect on any angst past or present and why it feels so right. Look for their new material in 2014! (Andre Torrez)
With Names and BR-OOKS
9pm, $7
The Night Light
311 Broadway, Oakland
www.thenightlightoakland.com
Sun/19
Queer/Trans* Night
Celebrate being queer in the New Year with Gilman’s first Queer/Trans* Night of 2014, when MC Per Sia hosts a night of hard-hitting punk from some of the coolest queers in Bay Area music. The show features masked trio Moira Scar, San Cha, DADDIE$ PLA$TIC, Oakland punks Didisdead, post-punk duo Bestfriend Grrlfriend, and Alice Cunt all the way from LA. Show goers can also look forward to DJ Johnny Rose and a video booth by Lovewarz. This is a safe and sober show, so leave the booze and drugs at home, as well as any racism, misogyny, transphobia, or homophobia. (Kirstie Haruta)
5pm, $5 + $2 membership
924 Gilman St.
924 Gilman, Berkeley
www.924gilman.org

 

“Poll” showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed

Sasha Cuttler
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78
“Poll” showing 73 percent approval for Mayor Lee was flawed

There was a poll conducted in late November by the University of San Francisco, the results of which were released in conjunction with the San Francisco Chronicle, claiming that 73 percent of San Franciscans approve of Mayor Ed Lee’s performance.

It didn’t take long for Lee’s supporters to begin touting the figure as fact; soon after the poll appeared on SFGate.com on Dec. 9, the results wallpapered the comment section of the Guardian’s website as the answer to any criticism of Mayor Lee, his policies, or the city’s eviction and gentrification crises. 

After all, it was a big number that seems to suggest widespread support. But closer analysis shows this “online poll” wasn’t really a credible poll, and that number is almost certainly way over-inflated. [Editor’s update 1/13: The authors of this survey contest the conclusions of this article, and we have changed the word “bogus” in the original headline to “flawed.” The issue of the reliability of opt-in online surveys is an evolving one, so while we stand by our conclusions in this article that the 73 percent approval figure is misleading and difficult to support, we urge you to read Professor Corey Cook’s response here and our discussion of this issue in this week’s Guardian.]

The problems with the USF “poll” are numerous, but the most glaring of those issues has to do with its lack of random selection. According to the New York Times Style Guide, a poll holds value in what’s called a “probability sample,” or the notion that it represents the beliefs of the larger citizenry.

The USF poll registered responses from 553 San Franciscans. That number itself isn’t the issue, or it wouldn’t be if those 553 individuals were procured through a random process. But they weren’t, and it wasn’t even close.

The survey participants were obtained via an “opt-in” list that, according to David Latterman — a USF professor, co-conductor of the poll, and downtown-friendly political consultant — meaning that anyone who participated in this particular poll had previously stated they were willing to participate in a poll. This phenomenon is known as self-selecting.

“We work with a rather large national firm and they have a whole series of opt-in panels,” Latterman told the Guardian. “So they’ve got lists of thousands of people who have basically said, ‘Yes, we’ll take a poll.’ And the blasts go out to these groups of people.”

That means that even prior to conducting the poll, results had already been tailored toward a certain set of citizens and away from anything that could be classified as “random.” And even the Chronicle acknowledged in the small type that “Poll respondents were more likely to be homeowners,” further narrowing the field down to one-third of city residents, and generally its most affuent third.

Even if pollsters could match the demographics of the polled with the “true demographics” as Latterman called them, it still wouldn’t address the issue of self-selection. But that’s not all: The list of “opt-in” participants, which was acquired through a third party vendor, according to Latterman, only contained English-speaking registered voters. And anyone contacted was contacted via email, another red flag in the world of accurate of polling data.

Interestingly, the USF “poll” also found that 86 percent of respondants said that lack of affordability was a major issue in the city, while 49.6 percent of that same group considered housing developers to be most at fault for the astronomical real estate prices. So, to recap: This poll, touted by many people as gospel in the comment section of this site, found that while the City is totally unaffordable, the man in charge of the City is barely culpable for that situation, and he remains incredibly popular.

According to the NYT Style Guide, “Any survey that relies on the ability and/or availability of respondents to access the Web and choose whether to participate is not representative and therefore not reliable.” 

Uh oh. 

Russell D. Renka, professor of Political Science at Southeast Missouri State, conveyed far stronger feelings on the matter in his paper “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Public Opinion Polling,” saying that a self-selected sample “trashes the principle of random selection… A proper medical experiment never permits someone to choose whether to receive a medication rather than the placebo.”

Strike two.

He then writes, “Any self-selected sample is basically worthless as a source of information about the population beyond itself.”

Strike three.

So then why were such frowned-upon methods used in this poll?

Latterman attributes the tactics to many things, but mostly to the rapidly changing technological landscape of San Francisco, coupled with the high costs of alternative methods and a large renters market. 

“San Francisco is a more difficult model,” Latterman said. “So Internet polling has to get better, because phone polling has gotten really expensive.”

But even if Internet polling needs to improve, it is still important to prominently note that in original source material, lest you give folks the wrong ideas. Or even just misinformed ones. Unless what you’re trying to present is less about polling that trying to sell San Franciscans on the idea that Mayor Lee enjoys widespread support.

 

 

 

 

Solomon: The CIA, Amazon, Bezo, and the Washington Post: An exchange with Executive Editor Martin Baron

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By Norman Solomon 

(B3 note: This exchange between Norman Solomon and the Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron followed a Solomon column that dramatized the ethical issues involving the Post and its new owner Jeff Bezos, founder and CE0 of  Amazon. Solomon noted that Amazon has landed a $600 million contract with the Central Intelligence Agency.  He wrote that “news media should illuminate conflicts of interest, not embody them” and that Bezo is now doing “big business” with the CIA “while readers of the newspaper’s  CIA coverage are left in the dark.”) 

 
To: Martin Baron, Executive Editor, and Kevin Merida, Managing Editor, The Washington Post
 
Dear Mr. Baron and Mr. Merida:

On behalf of more than 25,000 signers of a petition to The Washington Post, I’m writing this letter to request a brief meeting to present the petition at a time that would be convenient for you on Jan. 14 or 15.


Here is the text of the petition, launched by RootsAction.org:

“A basic principle of journalism is to acknowledge when the owner of a media outlet has a major financial relationship with the subject of coverage. We strongly urge the Washington Post to be fully candid with its readers about the fact that the newspaper’s new owner, Jeff Bezos, is the founder and CEO of Amazon which recently landed a $600 million contract with the CIA. The Washington Post’s coverage of the CIA should include full disclosure that the sole owner of the Post is also the main owner of Amazon — and Amazon is now gaining huge profits directly from the CIA.”

The petition includes cogent comments by many of the people who signed it.

I hope that you can set aside perhaps 10 minutes on Jan. 14or 15 for the purpose of receiving the petition and hearing a summary of its signers’ concerns.

For confirmation of an appointment, I can be reached on my cell phone…

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Norman Solomon
Director and Cofounder, RootsAction.org
 
[January 2, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Solomon:
 
Thank you for your note. I was able to read the petition on the RootsAction.org site and to see the list of those who signed it. I certainly would be happy to review any additional information you might send.
 
The Post has among the strictest ethics policies in the field of journalism, and we vigorously enforce it. We have routinely disclosed corporate conflicts when they were directly relevant to our coverage. We reported on Amazon’s pursuit of CIA contracts in our coverage of plans by Jeff Bezos to purchase The Washington Post.
 
We also have been very aggressive in our coverage of the intelligence community, including the CIA, NSA, and other agencies, as you should know. The Post was at the leading edge of disclosures about the NSA in 2013. Most recently, it reported on the CIA’s hidden involvement in Colombia’s fight against FARC rebels, including a fatal missile attack across the border in Ecuador. You can be sure neither the NSA nor the CIA has been pleased with publication of their secrets.
 
Neither Amazon nor Jeff Bezos was involved, nor ever will be involved, in our coverage of the intelligence community.
 
The petition’s request for disclosure of Amazon’s CIA contract in every story we write about the CIA is well outside the norm of conflict-of-interest disclosures at media companies. The Post is a personal investment by Jeff Bezos, whose stake in Amazon is large but well less than a majority. The CIA’s multi-year contract with Amazon is a small fraction of company revenues that have been estimated at roughly $75 billion in 2013. Amazon maintains no corporate connection to The Post.
 
Even so, we have been careful to disclose Jeff Bezos’ connection to The Post and Amazon when directly relevant to our coverage, and we will continue to do so. For example, such disclosures would be called for in coverage circumstances such as the following:  CIA contracting practices, the CIA’s use of cloud services,  big-data initiatives at the CIA, Amazon’s pursuit of cloud services as a line of business, and Amazon corporate matters in general.
 
We take ethics very seriously here at The Post. One of our policies is that we seek comment from the subjects of our stories prior to publishing them and that we make a genuine effort to hear and absorb their point of view. By contrast, I am unaware of any effort to hear us out prior to the launch of this petition drive. A personal meeting now does not seem necessary or useful.
 
I hope this note explains our perspective. And again, if you wish to send additional information that you feel might be helpful to us, we will review it closely.
 
Sincerely,
Martin Baron
Executive Editor
The Washington Post
 
[January 2, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Baron:

Thank you for your letter.

Whatever the Post’s guidelines and record on ethical standards, few journalists could have anticipated ownership of the paper by a multibillionaire whose outside company would be so closely tied to the CIA. Updating of the standards is now appropriate.

You write that The Washington Post has “routinely disclosed corporate conflicts when they were directly relevant to our coverage.” But the RootsAction.org petition is urging the Post to provide readers of its CIA coverage with full disclosure that would adequately address — and meaningfully inform readers about — relevant circumstances of the current ownership.

Those circumstances are not adequately met by a narrow definition of “corporate conflicts.” A reality is that the Post is now solely owned by someone who is by far the largest stakeholder in a world-spanning corporate giant that has close business ties — and is seeking more extensive deals than its current $600 million contract — with the CIA, an agency which the newspaper reports on regularly.

The petition requests that The Washington Post adopt a full disclosure policy that is commensurate with this situation. The gist of the request is recognition that, as the saying goes, sunshine is the best disinfectant for any potential conflict of interest.

When you write that the Post has a policy of routinely disclosing corporate conflicts when “directly relevant to our coverage,” a key question comes to the fore:  What is “directly relevant”? Given that few agencies are more secretive than the CIA — and even the most enterprising reporters are challenged to pry loose even a small fraction of its secrets — how do we know which CIA stories are “directly relevant” to the fact that Amazon is providing cloud computing services to the CIA?

Amazon’s contract with the CIA is based on an assessment that Amazon Web Services can provide the agency with digital-data computing security that is second to none. We can assume that a vast amount of information about CIA activities is to be safeguarded by Amazon. With what assurance can we say which stories on CIA activities are not “directly relevant” to Jeff Bezos’s dual role as sole owner of the Post and largest stakeholder in Amazon?

We actually don’t know what sort of data is involved in what your letter calls “the CIA’s use of cloud services.” The disclosure/non-disclosure policy that you’ve outlined seems to presume that, for instance, there would be no direct relevance of the cloud services contract to coverage of such matters as CIA involvement in rendition of prisoners to regimes for torture; or in targeting for drone strikes; or in data aggregation for counterinsurgency. Are you assuming that the Post’s coverage of such topics is not “directly relevant” to the Bezos/Amazon ties with the CIA and therefore should not include disclosure of the financial ties that bind the Post’s owner to the CIA?

Readers of a Post story on the CIA — whether about drones or a still-secret torture report, to name just two topics — should be informed of the Post/Bezos/Amazon/CIA financial ties. In the absence of such in-story disclosure, there is every reason to believe that many readers will be unaware that the Post’s owner is someone with a major financial stake in an Amazon-CIA deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

If Amazon’s $600 million multiyear cloud contract with the CIA is a small fraction of the company’s revenue, there is clear intent for it to grow larger. And $600 million is, by itself, hardly insignificant; let’s remember that Mr. Bezos bought the Post for less than half that amount.

“We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA,” a statement from Amazon said two months ago. In public statements, Mr. Bezos and Amazon have made clear that they view this as a growing part of Amazon’s business: a feather in the corporate cap of the company in its drive to increase market share of such business operations. This is intended as a major and expansive income source for Amazon and for its CEO, Mr. Bezos, whose personal wealth of $25 billion is a consequence of Amazon’s financial gains.

Why not provide a sentence in the Post’s substantive coverage of CIA activities, to the effect that “The Post’s owner Jeff Bezos is the largest stakeholder in Amazon, which has a $600 million contract with the CIA”?

By declining to provide such disclosure, the Post is failing the transparency test when coverage of the CIA falls outside of the circumscribed areas where your letter says Post policy now provides for disclosure (“CIA contracting practices, the CIA’s use of cloud services, big-data initiatives at the CIA, Amazon’s pursuit of cloud services as a line of business, and Amazon corporate matters in general”).

Such concerns are among the reasons why tens of thousands of people, including many Post readers, have signed the petition to The Washington Post that I will be delivering onJanuary 15. While it’s unfortunate that you don’t want to have a meeting for a few minutes on that day, I hope that you will mull over the concerns that are propelling this petition forward.

Sincerely,
Norman Solomon
RootsAction.org

[January 4, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Solomon:
 
Thank you for expanding upon your views.
 
Just to reiterate, The Post has among the strictest ethics policies in the field of journalism. Those policies are sufficiently expansive, comprehensive, and current to take into account The Post’s acquisition by Jeff Bezos. The policies are strictly enforced. However, as I explained in detail in my previous note, your proposal is far outside the norm of disclosures about potential conflicts of interest at media organizations.
 
Meantime, as plain evidence of our independence, we will continue our aggressive coverage of the intelligence community, including the CIA. I hope you’ve noticed it. The CIA has, and it’s not happy.
 
Sincerely,
Martin Baron
Executive Editor
The Washington Post
 
[January 4, 2014]

______________________________________________

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.”

Here’s what the new FCC chairman heard when he came to Oakland

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Here’s what the new FCC chairman heard when he came to Oakland

Last night (Thu/9), the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, visited Oakland’s Preservation Park for a town hall meeting.

It was the first time in more than five years that the head of the FCC engaged in this kind of face-to-face community dialogue in Oakland, Chancellar Williams of Free Press said at the start of the meeting. The event was hosted by the Free Press, the Center for Media Justice, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition.

Social justice advocates from Oakland and San Francisco greeted Wheeler with a wide variety of concerns, asking him to help close the digital divide and improve access to basic phone and Internet service for low income people.

Some spoke out about media consolidation, which Williams said has given rise to cost barriers resulting in abysmally low representation of broadcast station ownership by people of color. Others asked Wheeler to address the high cost of telephone calls in immigration detention.

Before people started lining up to share their thoughts with Wheeler, Malkia Cyril, founder and executive director of the Center for Media Justice, captured everyone’s attention by delivering an impassioned speech on issues of media ownership, democracy, and racial inequality. Here’s a sample of what she said:

Gods and mom-sters: the week’s new films

Sue Vaughan
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Gods and mom-sters: the week’s new films

This week: August: Osage County (bumped from its previously-scheduled opening last week) unleashes 2014’s first bolt of LOOK AT ME I’M ACTING! Other choices you have while you count down to the Golden Globes (Sunday night) and the Oscar nominations (next Thursday) include Ralph Fiennes’ latest actor-director turn in Charles Dickens tale The Invisible Woman; Mark Wahlberg’s Navy SEALs drama Lone Survivor; and Renny Harlin’s CG’d-up action-tacular The Legend of Hercules.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hd_uO72h1s

August: Osage County Considering the relative infrequency of theater-to-film translations today, it’s a bit of a surprise that Tracy Letts had two movies made from his plays before he even got to Broadway. Bug and Killer Joe proved a snug fit for director William Friedkin (in 2006 and 2011, respectively), but both plays were too outré for the kind of mainstream success accorded 2007’s August: Osage County, which won the Pulitzer, ran 18 months on Broadway, and toured the nation. As a result, August was destined — perhaps doomed — to be a big movie, the kind that shoehorns a distracting array of stars into an ensemble piece, playing jes’ plain folk. But what seemed bracingly rude as well as somewhat traditional under the proscenium lights just looks like a lot of reheated Country Gothic hash, and the possibility of profundity you might’ve been willing to consider before is now completely off the menu. If you haven’t seen August before (or even if you have), there may be sufficient fun watching stellar actors chew the scenery with varying degrees of panache — Meryl Streep (who else) as gorgon matriarch Violet Weston; Sam Shepard as her long-suffering spouse; Julia Roberts as pissed-off prodigal daughter Barbara (Julia Roberts), etc. You know the beats: Late-night confessions, drunken hijinks, disastrous dinners, secrets (infidelity, etc.) spilling out everywhere like loose change from moth-eaten trousers. The film’s success story, I suppose, is Roberts: She seems very comfortable with her character’s bitter anger, and the four-letter words tumble past those jumbo lips like familiar friends. On the downside, there’s Streep, who’s a wizard and a wonder as usual yet also in that mode supporting the naysayers’ view that such conspicuous technique prevents our getting lost in her characters. If Streep can do anything, then logic decrees that includes being miscast. (2:10) (Dennis Harvey)

The Invisible Woman See “A Tale of Two.” (1:51)

The Legend of Hercules Renny Harlin rises from the dead to direct Twilight series hunk Kellan Lutz in this 3D, CG-laden retelling of you know which myth. (1:38)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDVCuSY7PEk

Lone Survivor Peter Berg (2012’s Battleship, 2007’s The Kingdom) may officially be structuring his directing career around muscular tails of bad-assery. This true story follows a team of Navy SEALs on a mission to find a Taliban group leader in an Afghani mountain village. Before we meet the actors playing our real-life action heroes we see training footage of actual SEALs being put through their paces; it’s physical hardship structured to separate the tourists from the lifers. The only proven action star in the group is Mark Wahlberg — as Marcus Luttrell, who wrote the film’s source-material book. His funky bunch is made of heartthrobs and sensitive types: Taylor Kitsch (TV’s Friday Night Lights); Ben Foster, who last portrayed William S. Burroughs in 2013’s Kill Your Darlings but made his name as an officer breaking bad news gently to war widows in 2009’s The Messenger; and Emile Hirsch, who wandered into the wilderness in 2007’s Into the Wild. We know from the outset who the lone survivors won’t be, but the film still manages to convey tension and suspense, and its relentlessness is stunning. Foster throws himself off a cliff, bounces off rocks, and gets caught in a tree — then runs to his also-bloody brothers to report, “That sucked.” (Yesterday I got a paper cut and tweeted about it.) But the takeaway from this brutal battle between the Taliban and America’s Real Heroes is that the man who lived to tell the tale also offers an olive branch to the other side — this survivor had help from the non-Taliban locals, a last-act detail that makes Lone Survivor this Oscar season’s nugget of political kumbaya. (2:01) (Sara Maria Vizcarrondo)

Liv and Ingmar You wouldn’t expect anything less than soul-scorching intimacy from a documentary on the relationship of acting icon Liv Ullmann and moviemaking maestro Ingmar Bergman. And Dheeraj Akolkar satisfies with the help of plentiful clips from Bergman’s filmography, disarmingly frank interviews with Ullmann, behind-the-scenes footage, and grainy images of and excerpts from letters and memoirs by Bergman. Ullmann was the unforgettable face and inspiration for Persona (1966) and other Bergman classics; he was her director, mentor, and teacher; and they were brought together by film and remained drawn to each other despite the scandal of their respective spouses. Their at-first-happy then increasingly jealously-filled and isolated life is translated into intensely personal, searing visions like Shame (1968), which sparks at least one close-to-the-bone anecdote from Ullmann. She shows Akolkar photos of a bundled-up Bergman in a boat beside a vessel carrying an underdressed, freezing Ullman and Max Von Sydow. “He was really angry that day,” she recounts. “You ask if he was ever cruel to me. This time, he was really cruel. I hated him so much and I was planning to leave him.” Some might criticize Akolkar for his loose hand with the couple’s story and his heavy reliance on invaluable Bergman works like 1973’s Scenes From a Marriage — no dates or clues to the films or productions used are given until the credits roll — but more irksome are the sentimental montages, “reenactments,” and score: one can picture Bergman convulsed in the beyond during the most saccharine moments. Liv and Ingmar’s strength is the woman at its center. Revealing mementos from her “dearest Pingmar,” as well as unguarded glimpses into her heart, the almost achingly sincere Ullmann gets the last word here, as befits a survivor and an actress who never hesitated to let the camera see every emotion flitting across her lush features — making this doc less about Ingmar and the specifics of his career, and more about Liv and her still living, breathing emotional life. (1:23) (Kimberly Chun)

Dan Siegel announces candidacy for Oakland mayor

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Dan Siegel announces candidacy for Oakland mayor

Oakland attorney Dan Siegel, known for a long history of involvement in Bay Area social justice movements, joined a group of more than 150 supporters in front of Oakland City Hall this morning to announce his candidacy for mayor.

In a speech emphasizing his campaign ideals of social and economic justice, Siegel called for shutting down Oakland’s recently approved Domain Awareness Center, raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, making improvements in public education “to level the playing field between children from affluent backgrounds and children from poor backgrounds,” and shifting the city’s approach to policing by reorganizing the police department to foster deeper community engagement. We caught a few moments from his speech here:

Guardian video by Rebecca Bowe

Siegel’s campaign co-chair is Walter Reilly, a prominent attorney affiliated with the National Lawyers Guild who said he has a long history of involvement with civil rights and social justice movements. “This is a continuation of that struggle,” he said, adding that Siegel’s affiliation with “a progressive and class-conscious movement” is sorely needed in Oakland.

Left Coast Communications was tapped as Siegel’s campaign consultant. Siegel’s communications director is Cat Brooks, who was previously an organizer and sometimes spokesperson for Occupy Oakland.

In 2011, when the Occupy Oakland encampment sprung up in front of Oakland City Hall, Siegel resigned as a legal advisor to Mayor Jean Quan over a difference in opinion about her handling of the protest movement. Police crackdowns on Occupy, which resulted in violence and the serious injury of veteran Scott Olsen, made national headlines that year. 

Olga Miranda, an organizer with San Francisco janitors union, SEIU Local 87, also spoke on Siegel’s behalf. “San Francisco has become for the rich, and we understand that,” she said. “But at the same time, Oakland isn’t even taking care of its own.” Referencing gentrification, a term that seemed to be everyone’s lips, she added, “Dan understands that if you live in Oakland, you should be able to stay in Oakland.”

Asked why he’d decided to run, Siegel told the Bay Guardian, “I feel that not only in Oakland but across the country, things are really ripe for change. When you have a city like Oakland where so many people are in poverty or on the edge of poverty, or don’t have jobs or face evictions … it’s no wonder that the social contract falls apart. It seems to me that what government should do is elevate the circumstances of all people, and particularly people who are poor and disadvantaged.”

Voter Approval to Waterfront Development campaign officially underway

Sasha Cuttler
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Voter Approval to Waterfront Development campaign officially underway

The campaign to subject big projects proposed for San Francisco’s waterfront to popular approval is officially underway, with the City Attorney’s Office today issuing the ballot title and summary for what is now officially known as the Voter Approval to Waterfront Development Height Increases initiative.

The effort, which grew out of the successful No Wall on the Waterfront campaign that stopped the 8 Washington luxury condo towers in November, must collect at least 9,702 signatures by Feb. 3. Those interested in signing or circulating petitions can start at noon this Saturday with a launch event at 15 Columbus Avenue, the same campaign headquarters as the fall campaign.

“The idea was to have a public process around what we’re going to do with the waterfront,” campaign consultant Jim Stearns told the Guardian.

The trio of high-profile projects that would be most directly affected by the initiative are the proposed Warriors Arena, hotel, and condos at Piers 30-32, a large housing and retail project proposed by the San Francisco Giants at Pier 48, and a sprawling office, residential, and retail project that Forest City wants to build at Pier 70.

For a complete rundown of those projects, this initiative, its chances of success, and its larger political implications, pick up a copy of next week’s Bay Guardian.   

Got pests? Open data project reveals housing code violation data

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Got pests? Open data project reveals housing code violation data

Thanks to a handy new online platform created by the city’s Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation and Code for America, you can now determine whether the rental you’re eyeing is moldy, pest-ridden, or otherwise hazardous to your health – before signing a lease.

Investigating a potential landlord’s track record is just one application for the House Facts data set, an open data tool rolled out six months ago that instantly provides building owners’ names, code violation data, property assessment information and other relevant information associated with San Francisco addresses, all in one place.

Let’s say, for example, you were contemplating paying $1,650 a month to inhabit a 300-square-foot studio, right in the center of the Tenderloin. Now there’s a bargain in a red hot housing market! 

But before you get all excited and drain your bank account to plunk down a security deposit, surf on over to HouseFacts and punch in the building address. With this simple search, you might discover that this building has undergone inspection by city agencies a grand total of 73 times, most recently 11 months ago, with a total of 23 violations recorded.

Skim the list of violations and you’ll notice the words “rodents,” “insects,” “unsanitary conditions,” and even (big red flag here!) “biohazards (human feces).”

As they say, knowledge is power.

To be fair, some of those violations were recorded practically an eternity ago, and things could well have been cleaned up since – but having instant access to these track records could prove to be a check against negligent landlords.

 

A map of housing inspection data prepared by DPH.

The initiative to develop a uniform format and open platform for San Francisco housing inspection data was spearheaded under the environmental health division of the Department of Public Health in collaboration with city government’s growing tech innovation wing, and it’s now being emulated by several other cities nationwide.

DPH’s former Environmental Health Director, Dr. Rajiv Bhatia – who recently resigned after being targeted with a mysterious investigation that resulted in no findings of misconduct – was instrumental in advancing the open-data project under the Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability.

“We decided releasing this data would have the potential to improve government regulation,” notes Cyndy Comerford, manager of planning and fiscal policy in the environmental health division, who’s continued to move it forward since Bhatia’s departure. “Within San Francisco, there are many people who live in dilapidated and poor housing.” 

Residences plagued with rodents, cockroach infestations, lead, or mold present higher risks for health afflictions, such as allergies, respiratory conditions or cancer.

The enhanced transparency can strengthen code compliance and lead to an overall reduction in medical costs for preventable conditions, Comerford said.

Slumlords, beware: The tool has also been implemented at a time when the city is signaling that more aggressive code enforcement is on the horizon.

At the Jan. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting, Sups. Scott Wiener and Malia Cohen called for a hearing to get a better handle on building code enforcement.

“There’s not really any clear procedure for when these cases are closed, or how they’re closed,” said Jeff Cretan, a legislative aide for Sup. Scott Wiener.

“Our complicated code inspection system lacks sufficient coordination and communication among the different departments,” Wiener noted in a statement. “In addition, departments sometimes appear to be reluctant to pursue enforcement due to budget concerns.”

While the health department’s actions seem geared toward preventing ailments arising from poor housing conditions, the supervisors’ effort seems to stem from a quality-of-life concern. Cretan said his office regularly receives complaints from “really wired-in, aggressive Noe Valley neighbors.” He added, “People will call because they’re worried about hoarders.”

Protect pedestrians, crack down on red light runners

Sasha Cuttler
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Protect pedestrians, crack down on red light runners

It’s good to see City Hall finally focusing on pedestrian safety in San Francisco, where the streets are more dangerous than ever for their most vulnerable users, with the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed by motorists spiking last year.

Better streetscape design is part of the solution, and the advocacy group WalkSF will be holding the latest in its series of focus groups this Saturday seeking solutions to the problem. It is working with city agencies on a program called WalkFirst to address the issue.

But there’s another solution that’s even more obvious and immediate, and Sup. Scott Wiener hit on it at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting when he said (according to the Examiner), “It’s remarkable how little traffic enforcement we have…I’ve never been in a place with less traffic enforcement than in this city.”

Actually, it isn’t that the San Francisco Police Department doesn’t do traffic enforcement, as we learned this fall when officers pulled over dozens of cyclists slowly cruising through stop signs on the Wiggle. The problem is that SFPD ignores the most obvious and dangerous violations: motorists running red lights and otherwise driving recklessly.

Everyday on my commute home up Market Street, I see at least three anxious drivers running red lights. Everyday! This morning, on my way to work, a driver ran a red light right in front of an SFPD cruiser, and that officer ignored it. These drivers are speeding up within reach of pedestrians, who often wrongly assume green means they are safe to cross.

So drivers need to take a breath and realize the seconds they save isn’t worth the risk they’re taking with other people’s lives. And the SFPD needs to ticket more of these drivers and start sending the message that such selfishness won’t be tolerated.  

SF food bank short 2,200 volunteers

Erica Hanna
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SF food bank short 2,200 volunteers

Well, that was fast.

As it does every year, the cheery holiday season brought thousands of volunteers to the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks. Hungry folks were fed (despite some controversy), bellies were filled, hearts were warmed.

So much for that.

The holidays are over, the Christmas songs no longer play in our stores, and the barrage of volunteers is now at a standstill. The food bank is now short 2,200 volunteers, the part time work equivalent of about 60 full time employees, a food bank spokesperson said.

foodstats“Our volunteers are crucial to our mission and on average help us in sorting, bagging, gleaning, and boxing food. They on average help to sort over 1 million pounds (of food) per month,” Volunteer Services Manager Sean Rosas told us. “Heading into January, the Food Bank isn’t as top of mind for people as it was during November and December. We have lots of empty shifts on our calendar.”

Yes, this happens every year, but a new report from the city shows San Franciscans are at greater risk of food insecurity than ever.

One of the most expensive and wealthy cities in the nation still grapples with a hunger problem, highlighted in a recent report from the city’s Food Security Task Force. One in four San Franciscans are “food insecure,” meaning they’re starving or eating dangerously unhealthily due to poverty. 

The food bank fights this every day. It doesn’t need volunteers in its pantries, but for processing food in a giant warehouse nestled on Pennsylvania Avenue, behind Potrero Hill. There, volunteers package dried goods and sort produce.

That food then is shipped to over 200 food pantries in San Francisco and Marin, serving most all of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. From Glide Memorial Church in the Tenderloin to the Women’s Building in the Mission, more than 200,000 hungry San Franciscans are fed by the organization annually. 

Frighteningly, without volunteers, some of their fresh food will go to waste. 

“Currently, we distribute over 60 percent of our produce to nonprofit partners,” Rosas said. “A drop in volunteers would significantly impact our gleaning and distribution of fresh produce like oranges.  Ultimately this would lead to more food waste and composting costs for our organization.” 

For more information on how you can help, visit http://www.sfmfoodbank.org/

Insane Clown Posse and the ACLU vs. the FBI

Steven T. Jones
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Insane Clown Posse and the ACLU vs. the FBI

I never thought I’d write this sentence, and I doubt I’ll have cause to write it again, but: Good on ya, Insane Clown Posse.

The inimitable horrorcore-rap duo — best known for their demonic clown makeup, misogynistic lyrics, supposedly tongue-in-cheek love of extreme violence, and their always-charming fan base — filed a lawsuit this morning in Detroit against the FBI and the Justice Department, alleging that the federal government acted unlawfully when it classified Juggalos as gang members, leading to “harassment” of fans by law enforcement officials.

Attorneys from the ACLU of Michigan and attorneys for ICP collaborated on the suit, which concerns a 2011 report by the National Gang Intelligence Center on “emerging trends” that defined fans of the band as a “loosely-organized hybrid gang” that was “rapidly expanding into many US communities.” Four Juggalos listed as plaintiffs (alongside ICP members Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler — er, sorry, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope) claim the gang designation led to unwarranted harassment by the police.

“We’re not a gang, we’re a family,” said Utsler at a press conference announcing the suit. “We’re a diverse group of men and women, united by our love of music and nothing more. We’re not a threat, a public menace or a danger to society.”

Insane Clown Posse and their assorted devotees remain, of course, for many of us, a public menace to our senses and a danger to good taste everywhere. A gang? Not quite. And organized groups of assholes aren’t exactly an emerging trend.

Besides, don’t our federal security agencies have anything better to do?

Psychic Dream: January 8-14, 2014

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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ARIES

March 21-April 19

There is no “right” answer, Aries, only different choices that’ll yield different consequences. Don’t put pressure on yourself to figure out all the details this week. All you need to do is behave in ways that you can live with. When in doubt, strive to act with integrity and prosperity will follow.

­TAURUS

April 20-May 20

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Be daring enough to enter into a collaborative relationship with Fate, Taurus. Endeavor to make your life a creative expression of all of your interests, loves, and goals. Put yourself out there this week and see what flowers and where your life flows to next.

GEMINI

May 21-June 21

You’ve got to believe in yourself, Twin Star. There’s no amount of accolades in the world that’ll make this happen for you, you’ve gotta choose it on your own. Self-doubt threatens to corrode the muscle car of your virility this week, and it will take an act of self-loving will and a leap of faith to overcome it.

CANCER

June 22-July 22

It’s true that love heals all wounds, but it’s not a quick fix. Please use the regenerative powers of love and compassion as you deal with everything from getting a parking ticket to talking to your boss this week. The accumulative effects of such kindness to your self and others will be worth it.

LEO

July 23-Aug. 22

Be proactive in creating what you want in your life and relationships. Only beware your own enthusiasm, Leo! In your excitement you risk trampling over people who move slower than you, or don’t share your vision this week. Take your time and consider all factors, especially those with a heartbeat.

VIRGO

Aug. 23-Sept. 22

It is scary letting go of control because you don’t know what’ll happen or how to prepare. Accept what you cannot do so that you can free up your energy to work with what you can. Resist the urge to make value judgments; try to assume that there’s a bigger and better plan than you can see right now.

LIBRA

Sept. 23-Oct. 22

The antidote to your fears this week is found through injecting patience and optimism into your outlook. There is no force so great that it’ll speed up time and no analysis so piercing that it’ll predict the future. Be gentle with yourself and the situations that are still developing around you, Libra.

SCORPIO

Oct. 23-Nov. 21

If you don’t know how to get where you want to go, or worse, if you don’t know where you want to be, then this week is going to test you. Strive to make choices out of love and hope in place of fear, Scorpio. Gravitate towards that which holds you up instead of your worries.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov. 22-Dec. 21

In order to have the kind of relationships that you want you first need to be right with you. Pushing yourself to the limits of what you can do in a healthy way has it time and place, but it’s now and it’s not with the people you love. Acknowledge your boundaries so you can work within them and avoid needless grief.

CAPRICORN

Dec. 22-Jan. 19

So here’s the rub about freedom- you are free to choose whatever you want, even if it sucks. The Universe is calling upon you to be intentional with yourself about what you are doing, and the underlying reasons why. This can be a magical time for you, but it’ll require an honest assessment of your participation.

AQUARIUS

Jan. 20-Feb. 18

The truth is that most of us are afraid of success. If you had everything you wanted and no problems at all, even the long held ones, who would you be? Would you still be you? Investigate your attachments to the very stuff you claim not to want so that you can understand what you’re getting out of it.

PISCES

Feb. 19-March 20

When you act on the material plane others can see and validate what you’re doing. When you purse internal action it can look like inactivity or even passivity to others. Focus on the latter this week so you can prop up the former when the time is right. Be brave enough to do what’s right for you, Pisces.

Want more in-depth, intuitive or astrological advice from Jessica? Schedule a one-one-one reading that can be done in person or by phone. Visit www.lovelanyadoo.com

Music Listings: January 8-15, 2014

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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WEDNESDAY 8
ROCK
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. A Lot Like Birds, Sianvar, Stolas, The Venetia Fair, 8:30 p.m., $12.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Apogee Sound Club, Grandma’s Boyfriend, UFOFBI, 8 p.m., $1.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Augurs, North, Bloodmoon, 8:30 p.m., $7.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Bonnie & The Bang Bang, Strange Vine, Down & Outlaws, Wag, 8:30 p.m., $5.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rickshaw Stop 10th Anniversary: Mikal Cronin, Cool Ghouls, Cocktails, 8 p.m., $15.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Young Dubliners, 8 p.m., $19-$23.
DANCE
111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna St., San Francisco. “Qoöl,” w/ D.F. Tram, Marshall Watson, Dulce, Will Spencer, Dan Sherman, Spesh, 5-10 p.m., free.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “BroMance: A Night Out for the Fellas,” 9 p.m., free.
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Sticky Wednesdays,” w/ DJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bondage A Go Go,” w/ DJs Damon, Tomas Diablo, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$10.
Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “Electro Pop Rocks,” 18+ dance night with Tittsworth, Jays One, DJ Dials, Cocaine at the Disco (SwitchBlade & Mr. Brandon), Jazz-E, Shane Fontane, Dmitri Reign, Cosmo Koyote, 9 p.m., $15-$20.
Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “1964,” w/ DJ Matt B & guests, Second and Fourth Wednesday of every month, 10 p.m., $2.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Commune,” w/ Pixel Memory, Niteppl, Alien Angel Brigade, Popgang DJs, 9 p.m., free.
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Tainted Techno Trance,” 10 p.m.
F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Housepitality,” 9 p.m., $5-$10.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Indulgence,” 10 p.m.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Disorder,” w/ The Victoriana, PSSNGRS, DJ Nickie, 10 p.m.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “What?,” w/ resident DJ Tisdale and guests, 7 p.m., free.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Rock the Spot,” 9 p.m., free.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Reload,” w/ DJ Big Bad Bruce, 10 p.m., free.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Booty Call,” w/ Juanita More, Joshua J, guests, 9 p.m., $3.
HIP-HOP
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Mixtape Wednesday,” w/ resident DJs Strategy, Junot, Herb Digs, & guests, 9 p.m., $5.
Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “Special Blend,” w/ resident DJs LazyBoy & Mr. Murdock, 9 p.m., free.
ACOUSTIC
Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, 7 p.m., free.
Club Deluxe: 1511 Haight, San Francisco. Happy Hour Bluegrass, 6:30 p.m., free.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. The Verms, Sister Exister, Octomutt, 8 p.m., $7.
JAZZ
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session, The Amnesiacs, 7 p.m., free.
Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. The Cosmo Alleycats featuring Ms. Emily Wade Adams, 7 p.m., free.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. “Cat’s Corner,” 9 p.m., $10.
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin St., San Francisco. John Santos Listening Party, 7:30 p.m., $5-$10.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Ricardo Scales, Wednesdays, 6:30-11:30 p.m., $5.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Sherri Roberts, 7:30 p.m., free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Timba Dance Party, w/ DJ WaltDigz, 10 p.m., $5.
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Bachatalicious,” w/ DJs Good Sho & Rodney, 7 p.m., $5-$10.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cafe Latino Americano, 8 p.m., $12.
EXPERIMENTAL
Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Composers in Performance: Todd Lerew, 7:30 p.m., $8-$10.
FUNK
Vertigo: 1160 Polk, San Francisco. “Full Tilt Boogie,” w/ KUSF-in-Exile DJs, Second Wednesday of every month, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., free.

THURSDAY 9
ROCK
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Koobi Fora, Jay Trainer Band, 9:30 p.m., $5-$8.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Maus Haus, Tiaras, Memory Motel, 9 p.m., $10.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Pickwick, Elliott Brood, Fine Points, 9 p.m., $15-$17.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Brookhaven, Commissure, The Silhouette Era, 8:30 p.m., $5.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. Chain & The Gang, The Shivas, Skate Laws, 7 p.m., $8.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Turn Me On Dead, Cash for Gold, The Gold Medalists, The Sweet Bones, 8 p.m., $8.
Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. Dangermaker, Odd Owl, Margaret the King, 9 p.m., $5-$10.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rickshaw Stop 10th Anniversary: Geographer, Trails & Ways, DJ Aaron Axelsen, 8 p.m., sold out.
S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. La Plebe, The Meat Sluts, The Bloody Hells, 9 p.m., $10.
Tupelo: 1337 Green St., San Francisco. Hot Einstein, 9 p.m.
DANCE
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Gem & Jam: A Light in the Attic S.F. Preparty,” w/ Govinda, Love & Light, Nico Luminous, Insightful, The Flying Skulls, Matt Haze, 10 p.m., $10 advance.
Abbey Tavern: 4100 Geary, San Francisco. DJ Schrobi-Girl, 10 p.m., free.
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “Tubesteak Connection,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, 9 p.m., $5-$7.
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “¡Pan Dulce!,” 9 p.m., $5.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” ‘80s night with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests, 9 p.m., $6 (free before 9:30 p.m.).
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “XO,” w/ DJs Astro & Rose, 10 p.m., $5.
Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “The Crib,” 9:30 p.m., $10, 18+.
Danzhaus: 1275 Connecticut, San Francisco. “Alt.Dance,” Second Thursday of every month, 7 p.m., $7, 18+.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Afrolicious,” w/ DJs Pleasuremaker, Señor Oz, and live guests, 9:30 p.m., $5-$8.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “I Love Thursdays,” 10 p.m., $10.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Night Fever,” 9 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursday,” w/ DJ Jay-R, 9 p.m., free.
Raven: 1151 Folsom St., San Francisco. “1999,” w/ VJ Mark Andrus, 8 p.m., free.
The Tunnel Top: 601 Bush, San Francisco. “Tunneltop,” DJs Avalon and Derek ease you into the weekend with a cool and relaxed selection of tunes spun on vinyl, 10 p.m., free.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bubble,” 10 p.m., free.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Base,” w/ Lisa Rose, Jaime James, OneMoHit, Monchis the DJ, 10 p.m., free.
HIP-HOP
Eastside West: 3154 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” w/ DJ Madison, 9 p.m., free.
John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Party with Friends,” w/ resident DJs IllEfect, GeektotheBeat, Merrick, and Delrokz, Second Thursday of every month, 9 p.m., free.
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Peaches,” w/ lady DJs DeeAndroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, Umami, Inkfat, and Andre, 10 p.m., free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Dull Richards, Dinner with the Kids, Demimonde, Old Belle, 9 p.m., $7-$10.
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Mountain Dojo, 8 p.m., free.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Acoustic Open Mic, 7 p.m.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Minor Birds, Robert Deeble, Caitlin Eadie, 9 p.m., $8-$10.
The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. Andrew St. James & Scott Mickelson, 8 p.m., $10.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. John Caulfield & Friends, 9 p.m.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Andy McKee, Janet Noguera, 8 p.m., $31.
JAZZ
Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Doug Martin’s Avatar Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., free.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Clifford Lamb, Mel Butts, and Friends, Second Thursday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums, 7:30 p.m.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Jam with Eddy Ramirez, 7:30 p.m., $5.
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin St., San Francisco. “Hotplate,” w/ Le Jazz Hot (playing Django Reinhardt), 8 & 9:30 p.m., $15-$20.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Stompy Jones, 7:30 p.m., $10.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 7:30 p.m., free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Pa’Lante!,” w/ Juan G, El Kool Kyle, Mr. Lucky, 10 p.m., $5.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. “Jueves Flamencos,” 8 p.m., free.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Gary Flores & Descarga Caliente, 8 p.m.
Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. The Verdi Club Milonga, w/ Christy Coté, DJ Emilio Flores, guests, 9 p.m., $10-$15.
REGGAE
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Festival ‘68,” w/ Revival Sound System, Second Thursday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
Pissed Off Pete’s: 4528 Mission St., San Francisco. Reggae Thursdays, w/ resident DJ Jah Yzer, 9 p.m., free.
BLUES
50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Bill Phillippe, 5:30 p.m., free.
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Toronzo Cannon, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $20.
COUNTRY
The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. “Twang Honky Tonk & Country Jamboree,” w/ DJ Little Red Rodeo, 7 p.m., free.
EXPERIMENTAL
The Luggage Store: 1007 Market, San Francisco. “Trance Mutations,” w/ I.C.P.C.P., Demon Sleeper, Loachfillet, 8 p.m., $6-$10.
SOUL
Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Big Blu Soul Revue, Second Thursday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. Queen B, Beyoncé tribute night with the Rice Rockettes and DJ Brenda Dong., 9 p.m., $5.

FRIDAY 10
ROCK
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Tennis, Kyle M. Terrizzi, 9:30 p.m., sold out.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Death Valley High, Flexx Bronco, Happy Fangs, 9 p.m., $5-$8.
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Girls Rock!, Fundraiser for victims of drunk drivers with music by Punk Funk Mob, MoonFox, Victoria & The Vaudevillains, and Coffee Shop Dropout., 9 p.m., $10-$12.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Eyes on the Shore, Spidermeow, The Midnight Snackers, 9:30 p.m., $6.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Panic Is Perfect, My Stupid Brother, Salty De Vito, 9 p.m., $10.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. The Minks, Matthew Edwards & The Unfortunates, 7:30 p.m., $8.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Fritz Montana, The Meat Packers, Peachelope, 9 p.m., $7-$10.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rickshaw Stop 10th Anniversary: YACHT, Shock, plus Three Kinds of Stupid DJs Brother Grimm, Chris Baty, and BAS, 9 p.m., $20.
Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Battlehooch, Sun Hop Fat, Hungry Skinny, The Rotten Kids, Jazzy Fox, 8 p.m., $15.
DANCE
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Trap City,” w/ Ookay, Caked Up, Sasha Go Hard, UltraViolet, VNDMG, Napsty, Jocelyn, 10 p.m., $15 advance.
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “Indie Slash,” w/ resident DJs Danny White, Rance, and Sweethearts, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.
Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Hot Since 82, Pheeko Dubfunk, 9:30 p.m., $15 advance.
BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Bears in the Dark,” w/ DJ Del Stamp, 10 p.m., $5-$10.
Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Kinky Beats,” w/ DJ Sergio, 10 p.m., free.
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Boy Bar,” w/ DJ Matt Consola, 9 p.m., $5.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Dark Shadows,” w/ DJs Daniel Skellington, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, and Mz. Samantha, 9:30 p.m., $7 ($3 before 10 p.m.).
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “F.T.S.: For the Story,” 10 p.m.
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Fever,” 10 p.m., free before midnight.
The Grand Nightclub: 520 4th St., San Francisco. “We Rock Fridays,” 9:30 p.m.
Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “The Animal Party: Snowy Playground,” w/ Traviswild & Wallace, 9 p.m., $10-$20 advance.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Escape Fridays,” 10 p.m., $20.
Lone Star Saloon: 1354 Harrison, San Francisco. “Cubcake,” w/ DJ Medic, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “HYSL,” 9 p.m., $3.
Manor West: 750 Harrison, San Francisco. “Fortune Fridays,” 10 p.m., free before 11 p.m. with RSVP.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “F-Style Fridays,” w/ DJ Jared-F, 9 p.m.
Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Direct to Earth,” w/ Ambivalent, Mossmoss, Brian Knarfield, Bob Five, Dao & Pwny, 9 p.m., $15 advance.
OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Release,” 9 p.m., free before 11 p.m.
Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “The Music of Radiohead vs. The Music of Daft Punk,” w/ DJs Motion Potion & Matt Haze (in the OddJob Loft), 9 p.m., $5-$10; Wait What, in the main room, 9 p.m., $8-$10.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Pump: Worq It Out Fridays,” w/ resident DJ Christopher B, 9 p.m., $3.
Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. BT, 9 p.m., $25.
S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. “Cub Trap,” 8 p.m.
Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Electric WKND,” w/ The Certain People Crew, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
Slide: 430 Mason, San Francisco. “E2F,” Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. DJ Enfo, E-20, Reflecta, Mikey Tan, Ayla Simone, DJ Midnight, 10 p.m., $15.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bionic,” 10 p.m., $5.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Sound Addiction,” w/ Konman, Adam Cova, Halloran, DJ Nile, 10 p.m., $10-$30.
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bridge the Gap,” w/ resident DJ Don Kainoa, Fridays, 6-10 p.m., free.
Women’s Building: 3543 18th St., San Francisco. Prom Night: Redux, SF IndieFest launch party and benefit dance with DJs Shindog and Junkyard., 8 p.m., $5-$10.
HIP-HOP
EZ5: 682 Commercial, San Francisco. “Decompression,” Fridays, 5-9 p.m.
John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Heartbeat,” w/ resident DJ Strategy, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m).
Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Shortkut, DJ Proof, 9 p.m., $15-$25 advance.
Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “The Hustle,” w/ DJs Sake One & Sean G, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m.
ACOUSTIC
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Acoustic Guitar Showcase, hosted by Teja Gerken, 7 p.m.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Lia Rose, Misisipi Mike Wolf, 9 p.m., $12-$15.
Dolores Park Cafe: 501 Dolores, San Francisco. Jeff Desira, 7:30 p.m.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Dead Winter Carpenters, American Nomad, Sleeping Giants, 9 p.m., $15.
The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. “Brian Belknap’s Front Porch Friday Night,” w/ The Parmesans & Field Medic, 8 p.m., $10.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Anju’s Pale Blue Eyes, Hardly Strictly Trad., 9 p.m.
The Sports Basement: 610 Old Mason, San Francisco. “Breakfast with Enzo,” w/ Enzo Garcia, 10 a.m., $5.
JAZZ
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Jazz at the Atlas, 7:30 p.m., free.
Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Johnny Smith, 8 p.m., free.
Bird & Beckett: 653 Chenery, San Francisco. Jimmy Ryan Quintet, Second Friday of every month, 5:30 p.m., free.
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Grant Green Jr. with Bernard Purdie, Eamonn Flynn, and Daniel Casares, 9 p.m., $15 advance.
The Emerald Tablet: 80 Fresno St., San Francisco. Vince Lateano Quartet, 8 p.m., $15 suggested donation.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30 p.m., free.
The Palace Hotel: 2 New Montgomery, San Francisco. The Klipptones, 8 p.m., free.
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. 29th Street Swingtet, 8 p.m., free.
Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Beth Custer Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Trio, 7 p.m., $8.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Black Market Jazz Orchestra, 9 p.m., $10.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Joyce Grant, 8 p.m., free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Taste Fridays, featuring local cuisine tastings, salsa bands, dance lessons, and more, 7:30 p.m., $15 (free entry to patio).
Cliff House: 1090 Point Lobos, San Francisco. Orquesta Conquistador Quartet, 7 p.m.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cuban Night with Fito Reinoso, 7:30 & 9:15 p.m., $15-$18.
REGGAE
Gestalt Haus: 3159 16th St., San Francisco. “Music Like Dirt,” 7:30 p.m., free.
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Toronzo Cannon, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $22.
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson St., San Francisco. Eldon Brown, 6 p.m.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Jinx Jones & The KingTones, Second Friday of every month, 4 p.m.
Tupelo: 1337 Green St., San Francisco. Marshall Law Band, 9 p.m.
FUNK
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Loose Joints,” w/ DJs Centipede, Damon Bell, and Tom Thump, 10 p.m., $5-$10.
ROCKABILLY
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. The Chop Tops, Hayride to Hell, Hard Fall Hearts, Blacktop Tragedy, 9 p.m., $12.
SOUL
Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “Soul Crush,” w/ DJ Serious Leisure, 10 p.m., free.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Nightbeat,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and Dr. Scott, Second Friday of every month, 10 p.m., $4.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Yo Momma: M.O.M. Weekend Edition,” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza, Second Friday of every month, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 10 p.m.).
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Amel Larrieux, 8 & 10 p.m., $30-$40.

SATURDAY 11
ROCK
Bender’s: 806 S. Van Ness, San Francisco. Alabaster & The Original Bastards, Colonel Jimmy & The Blackfish, 10 p.m., $5.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. I the Mighty, Fighting the Villain, Rin Tin Tiger, Mr. Kind, 8:30 p.m., $10.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Odawas, Jon Bernson, Paint the Trees White, 9:30 p.m., $7.
Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement St., San Francisco. The Shape, Style Like Revelators, The Saint Ides, on the downstairs stage, 9 p.m., $6-$8.
The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. The Copper Tones, 9:30 p.m., free.
Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Astronauts, etc.; Waterstrider; There’s Talk, show moved from Cafe Du Nord, 9 p.m., $7-$10.
Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. StaG, Tidelands, Dinners, 9 p.m., $8.
Tupelo: 1337 Green St., San Francisco. The Bonedrivers, 9:30 p.m.
DANCE
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “2 Men Will Move You,” w/ DJs Primo & Jordan, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m.
Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Adrenalin Room Label Showcase, w/ SNR, Jacob Henry, David Gropper, Zulu Company, 9 p.m., $10 advance.
Cafe Flore: 2298 Market, San Francisco. “Bistrotheque,” w/ DJ Ken Vulsion, 8 p.m., free.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Club Gossip,” w/ DJ Damon & guests, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m., $5-$8 (free before 9:30 p.m.).
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Bootie S.F.,” w/ Earworm, Smash-Up Derby, A+D, DJ Dada, DJ Dcnstrct, Meikee Magnetic, Mixtress Shizaam, more, 9 p.m., $10-$15.
Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. Bowie & Elvis Birthday Bash, w/ DJs Shindog, Cammy, Moonshine, and Andy T, 9 p.m., $5.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Tormenta Tropical,” w/ Poirier, Oro11, Deejay Theory, 10 p.m., $5-$10.
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Eclectricity,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m.
The Hot Spot: 1414 Market, San Francisco. “Love Will Fix It,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “One Way Ticket Saturdays,” w/ Eric D-Lux, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $20.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Galaxy Radio,” w/ resident DJs Smac, Emils, Holly B, and guests, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m., free.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Bounce!,” 9 p.m., $3.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Music Video Night,” w/ DJs Satva & 4AM, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5.
Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. Benga, Twrk, RyuRy, Tchphnx, 9 p.m., $17-$20.
Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. “Salted,” w/ Miguel Migs, Julius Papp, guests, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. “Week-End: Saturday Edition,” w/ DJ Madison, 9 p.m., free.
Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “The Super Silly Circus Birthday Bash,” w/ Detroit Swindle, Bells & Whistles, Bo Bo the Clown, B the Bohemian, Machete Master Mitsu, Jonny the Pocket Juggler, 10 p.m., $5-$15.
OMG: 43 6th St., San Francisco. “Fixup,” Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m).
Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Isis,” w/ Kim Ann Foxman, Avalon Emerson, Mountaincount (in the OddJob Loft), 9:30 p.m., $10-$15.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Shoop!,” w/ DJs Tommy T & Bryan B, Second Saturday of every month, 9 p.m.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rickshaw Stop 10th Anniversary: Cockblock, w/ DJs China G & Kidd Sysko, 10 p.m., $10.
Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Robbie Rivera, 9 p.m., $20.
The Stud: 399 Ninth St., San Francisco. “Frolic,” w/ Cosmo Coyote, Neshamah, Orion Barkley, NeonBunny, 8 p.m., $8 ($4 in costume).
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. AndDrop!, Drezo, Brotherboard, Lukas Felt, Sean B, Roger Moorehouse, Rich Era, 10 p.m., $20.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. Scooter & Lavelle, 10 p.m., $10-$30.
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “All Styles & Smiles,” w/ DJ Tom Thump, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
HIP-HOP
111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna St., San Francisco. “Back to the ‘90s,” Second Saturday of every month, 9:30 p.m., $10.
50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Maya Castleman, Mantis One, Yarrow Slaps, DJ Dalej, 7 p.m., free.
Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Cash IV Gold,” w/ DJs Kool Karlo, Roost Uno, and Sean G, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Second Saturdays,” w/ resident DJ Matt Cali, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “The Shit Show,” w/ resident DJ Taurus Scott, Second Saturday of every month, 10 p.m., two for $5.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Highway Poets, 7 p.m., $5-$7.
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Craig Ventresco and/or Meredith Axelrod, Saturdays, 4-6 p.m., free.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. David Whitaker with Gary Adler, Sugar Ponies, Dane Ohri, Mario DiSandro, and David Colón, 7 p.m.
Great American Music Hall: 859 O’Farrell, San Francisco. The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, w/ The Human Condition, Three Times Bad, 9 p.m., $13.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Andrew Duhon, Don DiLego, Jeff Conley, Keyan Keihani, 9 p.m., $10.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Diego’s Umbrella, Con Brio, 9 p.m., $20-$25.
The Lost Church: 65 Capp St., San Francisco. Dara Ackerman, MacClain & Cole, 8 p.m., $10.
JAZZ
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Wil Blades, Skerik, Jeff Parker, and Simon Lott, 9:30 p.m., $15 advance.
The Emerald Tablet: 80 Fresno St., San Francisco. Rebecca Kleinmann, 8 p.m.
Hotel Rex: 562 Sutter, San Francisco. Pamela Joy’s “Strange Bedfellows: The Music and Unlikely Partnership of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin,” 8 p.m., $20.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Trio, 7 p.m., $8.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Robert Stewart Experience, 9 p.m.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 8 p.m.
INTERNATIONAL
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Pura,” 9 p.m., $20.
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Misión Flamenca, Monthly live music and dance performances., Second Saturday of every month, 7:30 p.m. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10 p.m., $5.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Bang Data, El Conjunto Nueva Ola, Deejay Julicio, 9 p.m., $10-$13.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “El SuperRitmo,” w/ DJs Roger Mas & El Kool Kyle, 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Eddy Navia & Pachamama Band, 8 p.m., free.
Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Non Stop Bhangra,” w/ DJ Jimmy Love, DJ Sep, DJ Nix, Dholrhythms dance troupe, more (in the main room), 9 p.m., $10-$15.
Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Guatam Tejas Ganashan, 7:30 p.m., $12-$20.
Space 550: 550 Barneveld, San Francisco. “Club Fuego,” 9:30 p.m.
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Andy T & Nick Nixon Band with Janiva Magness, 7:30 & 10 p.m., $22.
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson St., San Francisco. Willie G, 6 p.m.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Dave Workman, Second Saturday of every month, 4 p.m.

SUNDAY 12
ROCK
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Amoebapalooza S.F., 9 p.m., $5.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Ownership, The Rabbles, Reverse Headache, 8:30 p.m., $5.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Buffalo Tooth, Harsh Toke, Artifact, 3 p.m.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. Enorchestra, 3 Leafs, Henry Plotnick, 7:30 p.m., $8.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rickshaw Stop 10th Anniversary: Leslie & The LY’s, Double Duchess, DJ Kidd Sysko, 8 p.m., $16.
DANCE
BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Tea-Rex,” w/ DJ Corey Craig, 4-8 p.m., $10.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “Full of Grace: A Weekly House Music Playground,” 9 p.m., free.
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “Replay Sundays,” 9 p.m., free.
The Edge: 4149 18th St., San Francisco. “’80s at 8,” w/ DJ MC2, 8 p.m.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Dub Mission,” w/ DJ Sep, J-Boogie, Matt Haze, 9 p.m., $6 (free before 9:30 p.m.).
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “T.Dance,” 6 a.m.-6 p.m.; “The Rhythm Room,” Second Sunday of every month, 8 p.m.; “Sunday Sessions,” 8 p.m.
F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Stamina,” w/ DJs Lukeino, Jamal, and guests, 10 p.m., free.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Sweater Funk,” 10 p.m., free.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Jock,” Sundays, 3-8 p.m., $2.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Bounce,” w/ DJ Just, 10 p.m.
Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “What’s the Werd?,” w/ resident DJs Nick Williams, Kevin Knapp, Maxwell Dub, and guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 11 p.m.).
The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. DJ Marc deVasconcelos, 10 p.m., free.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Gigante,” 8 p.m., free.
Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “Vibes,” w/ Druid Cloak, Benito, Josh Mace, more, 10 p.m., free.
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. “Sunset Arcade,” 18+ dance party & game night, 9 p.m., $10.
HIP-HOP
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Return of the Cypher,” 9:30 p.m., free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Dustbowl Revival, 9 p.m., $7-$10.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. “Ukuladies & Gentleman,” w/ Allison Craig, Robin Galante, more, 6 p.m.
The Lucky Horseshoe: 453 Cortland, San Francisco. Bernal Mountain Bluegrass Jam, 4 p.m., free.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Spike’s Mic Night,” Sundays, 4-8 p.m., free.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Marla Fibish, Erin Shrader, and Richard Mandel, 9 p.m.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: 1755 Clay, San Francisco. “Sunday Night Mic,” w/ Roem Baur, 5 p.m., free.
JAZZ
Chez Hanny: 1300 Silver, San Francisco. Matt Renzi Cello Quartet, 4 p.m., $20 suggested donation.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30 p.m., free.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Sunday Sessions,” 10 p.m., free.
Martuni’s: 4 Valencia, San Francisco. Madame Jo Trio, second Sunday of every month, 4-6 p.m., free.
Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. Jazz Revolution, 4 p.m., free/donation.
The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Chris Siebert, 7:30 p.m., free.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Amanda King, 7:30 p.m., free.
INTERNATIONAL
Atmosphere: 447 Broadway, San Francisco. “Hot Bachata Nights,” w/ DJ El Guapo, 5:30 p.m., $10 ($18-$25 with dance lessons).
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Brazil & Beyond,” 6:30 p.m., free.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. “Salsa Sundays,” Second and Fourth Sunday of every month, 3 p.m., $8-$10.
Thirsty Bear Brewing Company: 661 Howard, San Francisco. “The Flamenco Room,” 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.
BLUES
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson St., San Francisco. Little Wolf & The HellCats, 4 p.m.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Blues Power, 4 p.m.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 8 p.m., free.
Swig: 571 Geary, San Francisco. Sunday Blues Jam with Ed Ivey, 9 p.m.
COUNTRY
The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. Joe Goldmark & The Seducers, Second Sunday of every month, 7:30 p.m., free.
EXPERIMENTAL
Musicians Union Local 6: 116 Ninth St., San Francisco. Confluence: Adventurous Music for Building Brain Cells, w/ Thollem McDonas, 7:30 p.m., $8-$10.
SOUL
Delirium Cocktails: 3139 16th St., San Francisco. “Heart & Soul,” w/ DJ Lovely Lesage, 10 p.m., free.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Amel Larrieux, 7 & 9 p.m., $30-$40.

MONDAY 13
ROCK
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Americalia,” w/ Mark Matos & guests, 9 p.m. continues through Jan. 27, $7.
DANCE
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Death Guild,” 18+ dance party with DJs Decay, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, & guests, 9:30 p.m., $3-$5.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Wanted,” w/ DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic, 9 p.m., free.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Vienetta Discotheque,” w/ DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey, 10 p.m., free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Pick Bluegrass Jam, Second Monday of every month, 6 p.m., free; Toshio Hirano, Second Monday of every month, 9 p.m., free.
The Chieftain: 198 Fifth St., San Francisco. The Wrenboys, 7 p.m., free.
Fiddler’s Green: 1333 Columbus, San Francisco. Terry Savastano, 9:30 p.m., free/donation.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Open Mic with Brendan Getzell, 8 p.m., free.
Osteria: 3277 Sacramento, San Francisco. “Acoustic Bistro,” 7 p.m., free.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Peter Lindman, 4 p.m.
JAZZ
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Eugene Pliner Quartet with Tod Dickow, 7:30 p.m., free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Le Jazz Hot, 7 p.m., free.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. City Jazz Instrumental Jam Session, 8 p.m.
The Union Room at Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. The Session: A Monday Night Jazz Series, pro jazz jam with Mike Olmos, 7:30 p.m., $12.
REGGAE
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Skylarking,” w/ I&I Vibration, 10 p.m., free.
BLUES
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. The Bachelors, 9:30 p.m.
SOUL
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “M.O.M. (Motown on Mondays),” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza & Timoteo Gigante, 8 p.m., free.

TUESDAY 14
ROCK
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. PSSNGRS, Face Tat, Casey Chisholm, Kid in the Attic, 9 p.m., $8.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Black Cobra Vipers, 8 p.m., $12.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. The Custom Kicks, Pogo Ono, Adderall Lavigne, DJ Lightnin’ Jeff G, 9:30 p.m.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Maria Taylor, PJ Bond, The Ian Fays, 8 p.m., $12-$14.
DANCE
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “High Fantasy,” w/ DJ Viv, Myles Cooper, & guests, 10 p.m., $2.
Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Tutu Tuesday,” w/ resident DJ Atish, Second Tuesday of every month, 9 p.m., $7 ($2 in a tutu before 11 p.m.).
Monarch: 101 6th St., San Francisco. “Soundpieces,” 10 p.m., free-$10.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Switch,” w/ DJs Jenna Riot & Andre, 9 p.m., $3.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Shelter,” 10 p.m., free.
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Tight,” w/ resident DJs Michael May & Lito, 8 p.m., free.
HIP-HOP
Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Takin’ It Back Tuesdays,” w/ DJs Mr. Murdock & Roman Nunez, Second Tuesday of every month, 10 p.m., free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Farallons, Indianna Hale, Jeffrey Manson, 9:15 p.m., $7.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Songwriter in Residence: Tom Rhodes, 7 p.m. continues through Jan. 28.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Vinnie Cronin, 9 p.m.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Shawn Colvin, Jan. 14-16, 8 p.m., $45.
JAZZ
Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Gerry Grosz Jazz Jam, 7 p.m.
Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Kally Price & Rob Reich, 7 p.m., free.
Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6 p.m., free.
Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Chris Amberger, 7 p.m.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Clifford Lamb, Mel Butts, and Friends, 7:30 p.m., free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, 7 p.m.
Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. West Side Jazz Club, 5 p.m., free.
Tupelo: 1337 Green St., San Francisco. Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz Band, 6 p.m.
Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. “Tuesday Night Jump,” w/ Stompy Jones, 9 p.m., $10-$12.
INTERNATIONAL
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Descarga S.F.,” w/ DJs Hong & Good Sho, 8 p.m., $12.
The Cosmo Bar & Lounge: 440 Broadway, San Francisco. “Conga Tuesdays,” 8 p.m., $7-$10.
F8: 1192 Folsom St., San Francisco. “Underground Nomads,” w/ rotating resident DJs Amar, Sep, and Dulce Vita, plus guests, 9 p.m., $5 (free before 9:30 p.m.).
REGGAE
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. “Bless Up,” w/ Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, 10 p.m.
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Fat Tuesday Band, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $15.
FUNK
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Boogaloo Tuesday,” w/ Oscar Myers & Steppin’, 9:30 p.m., free.
SOUL
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Lost & Found,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and guests, 9:30 p.m., free. 2

Pelosi denounces City College’s accreditors

Erica Hanna
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Pelosi denounces City College’s accreditors

Rep. Nancy Pelosi denounced the accreditors seeking to close City College at a press conference held yesterday at the school’s Chinatown campus.

“You can be sure it will be subjected to harsh scrutiny in terms of how they do what they do, who they are and why is it the Department of Education cannot do more,” she said to the crowd of local luminaries and City College faculty. 

City College of San Francisco is one of the state’s largest community colleges, home to a student body of over 85,000. The school came under fire from its accreditors, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, last July, who moved to revoke the school’s accreditation. Such a move would force the college to close. 

Since then the ACCJC has been beaten back from many directions: it’s tangled in three lawsuits, as well as a state inquiry from the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Arguably the highest profile thrashing the agency received was from Congresspeople Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier in November.

“I think the ACCJC has run amok, they have lost their vision — if they ever had one,” Speier told the Guardian. “They are riddled with conflicts of interest and arbitrariness.”

Pelosi voiced support for those views yesterday.

“I want to associate myself with remarks Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo,” she told the crowd, to cheers. 

Singing the praises of City College is all well and good, but the Guardian asked her directly: what can you do, and what is your next step?

Pelosi indicated that Congresspersons Speier, Eshoo, and George Miller, would review the role of the Department of Education regarding accreditors at a congressional higher education committee. This is something they’ve looked at before. 

“We’ll see what is recommended when we go there,” she said. “Suffice to say this is not something that will be ignored.”

This Week’s Picks: January 8 – 14, 2014

Michael Redmond
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0

WEDNESDAY 8

Major Barbara

Should a charity that relies on donations to fund its good works be picky about the source of its cash flow? It’s a conundrum as relevant today as it was in 1905, when George Bernard Shaw first scripted it into Major Barbara, about a Salvation Army officer who happens to be the estranged daughter of a wealthy munitions magnate. When Pops puts up the dough to fund her church — matching donations already given by a booze manufacturer — Barbara is beyond flummoxed. What’s a morally upstanding woman, deeply devoted to her cause, to do? Described as “a devilishly funny satire exploring themes of business, faith, family, and philanthropy,” this production teams American Conservatory Theater with Theatre Calgary, and features a cast of both Canadian and American actors. (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Feb. 2

Previews tonight through Sat/11, 8pm; Sun/12, 7pm

Opens Jan. 15, 8pm; runs Tue-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm, $20-$140

ACT’s Geary Theater

415 Geary, SF

www.act-sf.org

 

THURSDAY 9

King Creole

If Elvis Presley had survived his doctor-enabled substance abuse problem, he would have turned 79 yesterday (and if he is still alive, as the conspiracy theory suggests, he probably had one hell of a party). Celebrate the rock ‘n’ roll legend in royal style by taking in 1958’s King Creole, often cited by fans and critics as his best big-screen effort. It casts the singer-actor as a New Orleans ne’er-do-well who happens to have the voice of an angel, showcased in tunes like the title track, “Trouble,” and “Hard Headed Woman.” Yeah, the Big E starred in a lot of stinkers, but King Creole isn’t one of them, with a supporting cast that includes Vic Morrow, Walter Matthau, and Carolyn “Morticia Addams” Jones — plus sure-handed, noirish direction by Michael Curtiz (1942’s Casablanca, 1945’s Mildred Pierce). Diehard King devotees Will Viharo and Monica Cortés Viharo TCB as hosts of this birthday-themed “Thrillville Theater” screening. (Eddy)

9:15pm, $8

New Parkway

474 24th St, Oakl.

www.thenewparkway.com

 

After the Light

On a page written long ago by Virginia Woolf lies an abstraction of feelings: passion, defeat, nostalgia, anxiety. Though Woolf chose words to express these emotions, she believed that “love had a thousand shapes.” In After the Light, choreographer Liss Fain uses the human body and Woolf’s words in a dance installation to add to the thousands of shapes of the human heart. Threading together music by Dan Wool, a set by Matthew Antaky, and costumes by Mary Domenico, this performance constantly shifts, ebbing like the ocean tide that once led Woolf to the lighthouse. After the Light gives the public a brief understanding of “miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark,” which we continue to carry, even when the darkness closes in again. (Kaylen Baker)

Thu/9-Sat/11, 8pm; Sun/12, 2pm, $15-$35

Z Space

450 Florida, SF

www.lissfaindance.org

 

FRIDAY 10

San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival auditions

It’s that time of the year when cash, even for non-indulging shoppers, seems to have evaporated. There is no better remedy to beat those post-holiday blues than with a great show, at a good price, in a superb location with comfortable seats where you can watch dance for six hours or more — should you be so inclined. The yearly auditions for the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival are a love feast of world dance. What you get is a taste of what these artists are all about: five minutes for soloists and duets; 10 minutes for groups. To see some of them, perhaps for the first time, in a magnificent professional theater is its own reward. You can also engage in a guessing game of who might (and who might not) make it into June’s 36th annual SF Ethnic Dance Festival. (Rita Felciano)

Today, 3:20-9pm; Sat/11, 11am-6:30pm; Sun/12, 11am-7pm, $10 (children under 12, free)

Zellerbach Hall

UC Berkeley, Berk.

www.worldartswest.org

 

Chop Tops

Tearing up stages for nearly two decades now, Santa Cruz rockers the Chop Tops take traditional rockabilly and chuck the owner’s manual, boosting the power, streamlining the chassis, and hot rodding it into something that’s all the band’s own. Perennial favorites at the Viva Las Vegas festival, the trio has toured across the country and performed as far away as Australia — but local fans can check out the action tonight at the Elbo Room, where Sinner, Shelby, and Brett are guaranteed to blow the roof off the joint with their always incendiary set of what they call “revved-up rockabilly.” With South Bay psychobilly icons Hayride To Hell. (Sean McCourt)

With Hard Fall Hearts, Blacktop Tragedy

9pm, $12

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

www.elbo.com

 

“For Your Consideration: A Selection of Oscar Submissions from Around the World”

So you spent your entire holiday posted up in a movie theater, consuming America’s potential Oscar fodder (American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, etc.) Time to cross some cinematic borders, film fans, and sample contenders in the Foreign Language Film category. Sure, the shortlist has already been announced, but the Smith Rafael Film Center is screening a wide swath of submissions; even if they didn’t all make the Academy’s final cut (one that did: World War II spy tale Two Lives, from Germany), they’re all worthy of attention. Others in the series include In Bloom, about two teen girls in post-Soviet Georgia; Swiss bee documentary More Than Honey; New Zealand’s White Lies, about three generations of Maori women; Argentina’s The German Doctor, about Nazi Josef Mengele’s post-war life in South America; and Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s biopic Walesa, Man of Hope. And that ain’t even all of it: there are also films from Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden, Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, Austria, and Romania — no passport required. (Eddy)

Through Jan. 16, $6.50-$10.75

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St, San Rafael

www.cafilm.org

 

“Prom Night: Redux”

I skipped my prom. There, I said it. I failed at being a teenager and I’m not ashamed to admit it. But I really don’t think I missed out, since I “went to the prom” about 10,000 times by watching just about every high school movie ever made. There’s no guarantee of pig’s blood or a muttered apology from Blane or a Mean Girls-style symbolically broken crown, but there will be slow dancing, strapless gowns, corsages, terrible suits, and probably some crimped hair at “Prom Night: Redux,” a benefit for SF IndieFest, which turns Sweet 16 this year. By the time you read this, the full schedule for this year’s fest (coming up in early February) will be posted on www.sfindie.com, but no need to wait for juicy moviegoing, since the Roxie is also kicking off the brilliantly-titled “I Was a Teenage Teenager” series (all teen flicks, all the time), tonight through Jan. 14. DJs Shindog (New Wave City) and Junkyard (Litterbox) rock the tunes, and yes, a king and queen will be crowned. They’re all gonna laugh at you! (Eddy)

8pm, $5-$10

Women’s Building

3543 18th St, SF

http://tinyurl.com/lmrczfy

 

SATURDAY 11

“Bowie and Elvis Birthday Bash”

For those keeping score at home, that makes two Elvis birthday events (and two DJ Shindog events) in a single Selector spread. But while the King’s b-day is indeed an occasion worthy of multiple peanut butter and banana (and bacon) sandwiches, we cannot forget that Mr. Presley shares a birthday with David Bowie. And when the music, videos, and film performances of these legends collide, it’ll be a magic night of sequins, scarves, and platforms in the Tenderloin. For the fourth year, the “Bowie and Elvis Birthday Bash,” with DJs Shindog, Cammy, Moonshine, and Andy T, promises jams “from ‘Hound Dog’ to ‘Diamond Dogs'” — and don’t be cruel, Ziggy, do your part by outfitting yourself in homage to one (or both at once!) of these well-dressed twin stars. (Eddy)

9pm-2am, $5

Edinburgh Castle

950 Geary, SF

www.castlenews.com

 

SUNDAY 12

Shapeshifters Cinema

Last April, the San Francisco Cinematheque devoted one of its “Crossroads 2013” programs to local experimental filmmaker Scott Stark and his dazzling, haunting mannequin epic The Realist. Stark returns with brand-new work in Shapeshifters Cinema’s first program of 2014, both collaborations with Allison Leigh Holt: dual projector performance Nocturnal Symmetries, which delves into “dreamlike urban and natural landscapes;” and Treasures of the Big House, “a playful, yet manic interaction between two performers using toys, household objects, and toiletries out of control.” Watch where you’re aiming those golf tees! Also on the bill are a pair of older Stark works, Right (2008), a 13-minute exploration of right-wing ideology in the context of the 2003 Iraq invasion; and the 20-minute More Than Meets the Eye: Remaking Jane Fonda (2001/2006), an homage to the actor and cultural icon via a re-creation of one of her workout videos. (Eddy)

8pm, free

Temescal Art Center

511 48th St, Oakl.

www.shapeshifterscinema.com

Rep Clock: January 8 – 14, 2014

Michael Redmond
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0

Schedules are for Wed/8-Tue/14 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS 1924 Cedar, Berk; www.bfuu.org. $5-10. The Ghosts of Jeju (Tremblay, 2013), Thu, 7.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-12. The Little Mermaid (Clements and Musker, 1989), presented sing-along style, Wed-Fri, 7. San Francisco Silent Film Festival: “The Little Tramp at 100: A Charlie Chaplin Centennial Celebration:” “Our Mutual Friend: Three Chaplin Shorts,” Sat, 1; The Kid (Chaplin, 1921), Sat, 4; The Gold Rush (Chaplin, 1925), Sat, 7:30. Tickets ($10-22) and more info at www.silentfilm.org. Gravity (Cuarón, 2013), Sun, 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9. All is Lost (Chandor, 2013), Mon, 3:45, 6, 8:15.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-$10.75. A Touch of Sin (Jia, 2013), call for times. “Sundance Film Festival Shorts,” eight selections (comedy, drama, animated) from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Wed-Thu, call for times. “Croatian Children’s Animation,” Wed, 6:30. “For Your Consideration: A Selection of Oscar Submissions from Around the World,” Jan 10-16. The Past (Farhadi, 2013), Jan 10-16, call for times.

EXPLORATORIUM Pier 15, SF; www.exploratorium.edu. Free with museum admission ($19-25). “Saturday Cinema: Geometry in Motion,” short films, Sat, 1, 2, 3.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; milibrary.org/events. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Over the Top: Precode Hollywood:” Hell’s Angels (Hughes, 1930), Fri, 6.

METREON 101 Fourth St, SF; www.mcsmsscalifornia.org. $100-250. Trailblazers in Habits (Tong, 2013), Sat, 2:30. Benefit screening; additional info at www.trailblazersinhabits.com.

NEW PARKWAY 474 24th St, Oakl; www.thenewparkway.com. $8. “Thrillville Theater:” King Creole (Curtiz, 1958), Thu, 9:15.

ODDBALL FILM + VIDEO 275 Capp, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $10. Southeast Asian Film Society presents: Flooding in the Time of Drought (Kemarau, 2009), Tue, 7.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. PFA closed until Jan 16.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-11. I Am Divine (Schwarz, 2013), Wed, 7, 9:15. A Touch of Sin (Jia, 2013), Wed-Thu, 6:45, 9:30. “Frameline Encore:” •The Infamous T (Koch, 2012), and A Self-Made Man (Petchers, 2013), Thu, 7. Free screening. “I Was a Teenage Teenager,” docs, exploitation films, TV shows, and more, Fri-Tue. Visit website for complete schedule.

SF PUBLIC LIBRARY Main Branch, 100 Larkin, SF; www.merola.org. Free. “Merola Goes to the Movies:” A Night at the Opera (Wood and Goulding, 1935), Sat, 1.

TANNERY 708 Gilman, Berk; berkeleyundergroundfilms.blogspot.com. Donations accepted. “Berkeley Underground Film Society:” “LOOP Presents: Soundies!”, rare musical films, Sat, 7:30; The Jazz Singer (Crosland, 1927), Sun, 7:30.

TEMESCAL ART CENTER 511 48th St, Oakl; www.shapeshifterscinema.com. Free. “Shapeshifters Cinema,” films by Scott Stark and Allison Leigh Holt, Sun, 8. *

 

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